


The Jewel That Can't be Stolen

by takubi



Series: Unstolen Jewel [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Time Travel, verkwan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-13 11:32:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takubi/pseuds/takubi
Summary: On a cold summer night, Seungkwan saves Vernon; unraveling a story that made the cogs of fate begin to turn.





	1. Edge of Death (Prologue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lyrics cited at the beginning: RADICAL DREAMERS ~Nusumenai Houseki~ ^^v

 

_I hid the trembling light in my young hands_

_I've traveled this far, wandering the abyss of time_

 

_I continued to search for you, though I know not even your name_

_I wanted to hand over to you just one single feeling_

 

_Times catches deep in its arms both love and pain_

_And erases them, but I remember them_

_And always will..._

 

_It's reverberated deep in my heart for I know not how long..._

_Though it's a whisper fainter than a drop of evening dew_

 

_May the prayer I spun towards the darkness of the frozen stars_

_Reach all the way to your distant sky..._

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night has just fallen. It’s the middle of summer but the temperature keeps dropping indefinitely. Seungkwan is strolling on the quiet streets of _Jeju-do_. The cold breeze is biting on his skin, each step he takes echoes with the wind. He hugs himself, burying his hands inside the pockets of his coat in need of warmth. Suddenly, he stopped on his tracks. _Blood_. He sees trails of blood, the scene making his spine run cold. In impulse, he followed the dark red spots.

 

 

“Are you okay?” He breathes out, kneeling in front of the unmoving body facing the cold cement.

“Of course he’s not, Seungkwan.” He mutters to himself as he lightly slaps his freezing plump cheeks. In realization that this could be a crucial moment; he inched closer to the body to examine what happened. Seungkwan softly flipped the body to reveal numerous deep stabbed wounds scattered all over the man’s torso. He was shocked. _Who would do something as brutal as this?_ The blood is now seeping through Seungkwan’s clothes as he involuntarily places the body on his lap. The cold wind passes through them, sweeping the injured boy's hair, giving Seungkwan a clear look on the victim’s face. There lay a beautiful young man with prominent foreign features. The boy grunts in pain. Seungkwan needs to do something quick or he’s going to die.

With his eyes closed, Seungkwan lifts his left hand, swaying it in a circular motion, casting a spell that would temporarily stop electrical equipment and appliances from functioning. He’s specifically targeting the CCTV’s that was installed around the area last week due to heightening crime offenses around the island. No one should see and know what’s going to happen next.

He gently places the young man on the hard concrete. He straightens up his position and holds the pendant—made of nuummite, a dark charcoal grey stone—hanging from his neck. A crescent moon is excellently inscribed on it. The pendant is a heirloom that would accentuate any magical powers that the holder already possesses.

A surge of energy flows through his body. He leans down, a blush coloring his cheeks a tinge of crimson. It’s because of the cold, he tells himself. He kissed the stranger, the pendant illuminating a shade of green, painting the dark sky with the hue of life. Embarking the inevitable shift on each other’s life.

 

 


	2. Beginning of a Dream

 

 

Dark clouds are starting to form across the sky enveloping the waning crescent moon, making the streetlights the only source of light of Seungkwan and the now sleeping boy on his lap.

“Mingyu, you still up? I need you to pick me up.” He looks around. “I’m here in the alley near the main street. Use the van.” Seungkwan sent his friend a voice mail. He puts his phone away and looks at the boy peacefully sleeping on his lap with his coat keeping him warm. He could only hope that his friend would come as fast as he could because Seungkwan is freezing to death.

 

 

“And this guy is…?” Mingyu asked whilst steering the wheel. Everything is silent aside from the stereo that is playing trot music, his friend usually sings along when they’re travelling together, today is an exception. Mingyu looks intently at him through the rear view mirror waiting for an answer.

“Uhh, I-umm, I gave him my…” The handsome boy, still on his lap, stirs on his sleep making the coat covering his bloody shirt fall. Seungkwan catches it mid-air and puts it back on in a lightning speed making Mingyu suspicious because he seems hiding something.

“You what…?” Mingyu scrutinizes him. His eyes widen, things clicking together in his head.

“Seungkwan, how could you?! And with a _stranger_?” he scoffs at him. “I didn’t know you were _that_ desperate to lose your virginity.”

“Keep your eyes on the road and _I_ did not!” The blond raised his voice at him through gritted teeth. He tries to cover the ears of the stranger but it’s too late for that. “I gave him my life energy.” He mutters.

“Oh. _Oh._ You should’ve said so.” Mingyu nodded to himself, his eyes glued on the roadway.

Life energy is what keeps a person alive. A person who has a long life span but small life energy left would die earlier than a person who has a short life span but with a bursting life energy. The blood of wizards runs in Seungkwan’s veins. Their family is one of the elites in the echelon of magicians. He was shut from the world because no one should know their existence. He only has friends who aren’t “normal” because her mom forbids him from human contact.

 

 

“We’re here.” Mingyu announces, the vast gates swing open on their own as if they’re welcoming their master home, the gate eerily shriek on rusty hinges.

“Those gates,” the tall guy shivers. “They’re still as spooky as ever.” He commented as he drives into the enormous manor. They parked in front of Seungkwan’s two-story mansion that gives off a warm and serene atmosphere in comparison to the ghostly metal gates. The place was adorned with beautiful flowers.

“What actually happened?” Mingu asked with his arms crossed, leaning back on the van’s doorframe.

“I’ll tell you later,” he lifts the sleeping boy up. “Follow me to my room,” before Mingyu could say anything they vanished in the air.

“What the hell? He should’ve teleported to here instead.” He was about to shut the door close when he saw a wallet left on the van’s backseat.

 

 

“His name is Choi Vernon Hansol and he’s from Seoul. Probably here for a vacation?”

Seungkwan looks at him, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. The smaller guy is wearing a new set of clothes. Mingyu places the wallet on the cross-leg nightstand beside Seungkwan’s bed where lies Mr. Choi who’s wearing Seungkwan’s sweater shirt and pants. The smaller guy shakes his head at him for breaching the stranger’s privacy.

“Wow, so domestic.” Mingyu smirks at Seungkwan as the latter tuck Vernon into his own bed. He ignored his remark as he sits on an antique wood chair heaving a tired sigh.

“He was stabbed… countless times.” He looks at the innocent-looking boy from his seat beside him, glimmer of sadness reflected from his eyes.

“Sounds like something Thanatos would do.” Mingyu muses.

“I already get rid of him. You know that.”

“Nothing’s impossible in this world.”

Mingyu stares outside beyond the window. The rain that has been threatening to fall starts pouring down. It pours harder, the pitter patter on the roof combining with the sound of the clock ticking that echoes on the halls outside the room.

“What are we going to do next?”

“We make him forget.”

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

There’s a loud knock on his door. Wonwoo is busy cleaning the dust off of his books in his cramped library; it’s been eons since he cleaned it. He places the feather duster inside the cabinet and jogs to the front door to welcome his guest.

“What is Seungkwan’s familiar doing here?” Wonwoo raises an eyebrow at the taller guy but gives way for him to enter his small apartment.

 

 

“He needs an enchantment to erase memories.” They are in Wonwoo’s kitchen. Everything was arranged accordingly. The cookwares were hanged on the left of the counter and the glasses are placed on the cabinet symmetrically.

“I see.” He nods as he transfer the ramen he cooked from the pot to a huge bowl. This happened a lot of times already; people discovering about Seungkwan’s powers and Wonwoo taking the responsibility of erasing their memories.

“Do you want to eat? I cooked ramen.” He offers to Mingyu.

“No way, I don’t want your burnt ramen.” He vigorously shakes his head. “You only cook burned things.”

“I can change how they taste in my mouth anyway.” He pouts at him as he sets two small bowls on the table. “Plus, I didn’t burn them today. The electrical power went off earlier.” He smiled enthusiastically at him.

Mingyu flipped the chair in front of him and sat on it, his arms resting on the chair’s top rail. He watched the charming enchanter serve the newly cooked ramen on his plate its delicious aroma reaching his nose. He might as well eat since the guy was imposing and how can he possibly turn the offer down when Wonwoo is smiling at him like that.

 

 

The familiar is now sleeping in Wonwoo’s guest room. The reason being the potion for the enchantment won’t be done until tomorrow morning. In a few turns sleep came to him, his stomach full and his body exhausted from using his wings.

The enchanter hums a happy tune as he collect the ingredients he needs from his stock room, measuring them accurately before putting them on the tray on his right arm. He was in so deep in brewing the mixture that he didn’t sleep at all. Sleep can wait. It’s been a while since he has something to work on. He pours the mixture in to the tube with ease.

 

 

“ _Knock knock_ , I’m coming in!” Wonwoo announced before barging into the guest room.

“The hell?!” Mingyu jolts up on his sleep. He peeks at him with his left eye closed, still disoriented with his surroundings. Wonwoo slides open the curtains letting the sunlight enter the room with a warm glow.

“Let’s go. The potion’s ready.” He points at the potion on his right hand, beaming at him with excitement.

 

 

 

They drive back to the Boo’s manor with Wonwoo on the driver’s seat. Mingyu announced their arrival with a pound on the door. A moment later, Seungkwan swings open the large, double doors. He welcomes them with a smile.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yes. Where is he?” Wonwoo walks inside with Mingyu trailing behind him. “Why does this place feel bigger than before?” he looks around the spacious living room, adorning the paintings hanged neatly on the white walls.

“Probably because Madam is away, she makes the atmosphere of the house seem tight.” Mingyu explains as they ascend the staircase.

 

 

“Luckily he’s still asleep. He’s been sleeping for 10 hours straight.” Seungkwan tells Wonwoo like he’s some kind of doctor. He softly opens the door to his room.

“His name’s Vernon.” Says Mingyu proudly, introducing him to the enchanter.

“Is he a foreigner?” Wonwoo examines the sleeping boy and touches its forehead with the back of his fingers.

“No, I don’t think so. His family name is Korean.” The blond boy furrows his eyebrows, not sure with his answer. He crosses his arm as his friend observes his patient.

“Oh.” He steps back, a little confused. “Seungkwan, he’s not a normal human. My enchantment won’t work on him.”

 

 

There’s a big possibility that giving the dying man his life energy awakened Vernon’s magical power from deep within him or at least that’s what his enchanter friend explained. It’s weak but he has a flicker of magical aura inside him.

Seungkwan stares at the Vernon guy. His lips aren’t as pale as the night they met. Technically, the latter hasn’t met him though. He bites his own fingers, he doesn’t want to blame himself but he might have changed the boy’s life permanently.

“Seungkwan, I’ll keep it on tab! I mean, you didn’t get to use the potion but I used my precious materials on it. Also, let me borrow your familiar for a while. _Adieu_.” Wonwoo salutes at Seungkwan and drags his familiar with him out of the room. He could hear Mingyu’s complaints but he unwillingly joins the pushy guy anyway. The blond boy stares at the door left opened as they leave, flabbergasted.

The sleeping boy shifts on his sleep, getting Seungkwan’s attention. His expression is tense, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. _He’s having a nightmare._ Seungkwan grabs the other’s trembling hand with his both hands, murmuring words of comfort to him. The boy’s expression relaxed and his breathing start turning back to normal. Seungkwan smiles to himself as he runs his fingers through the boy’s disheveled hair.

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

He’s been running for what felt like hours. He doesn’t know when and where it started. His knees are going to give away anytime soon. He can’t run forever. The wildfire is going to catch him. The dark hollow trees surrounding him are maniacally laughing at him in mock. _You’re going to burn with us, you cannot escape._

 

 

Vernon wakes up in the middle of the night. He gasps for air. He stares blankly at the white ceiling, his chest heaving up and down.

“Hello.” Seungkwan greets the handsome young man. “My name’s Seungkwan. Boo Seungkwan. I—”

“Where am I?” He starts feeling his torso; he indistinctly remembers being stabbed multiple times and losing consciousness in the middle of street with no one around to help him. _Was it all just a dream?_ He looked at the blond boy, their eyes met. Seungkwan looks away.

“You’re in my house. You were lying on the ground and have no signs of waking up so I brought you here.” he tries to explain, tapping his fingers on his cheek, looking anywhere but him. Vernon pushed himself up to sit.

“You’re a bad liar, Boo Seungkwan.” Something in the way his name roll off the other’s tongue made him finally look at him. Vernon looks at him back. “I remember everything.”

 

 

The warm shower pours water all over Seungkwan, sliding on every part of his body. He leisurely takes a bath. He’s been watching over Vernon—the guy told him to call him that–all day. He internally scolds himself in the shower for his display of stupidity earlier. This is all his mother’s fault. Seungkwan doesn’t know how to lie or fake his expressions since he doesn’t have much enough experience talking with another people.

“People usually bring an unconscious body to the hospital first.” Vernon says a matter-of-factly, distrust apparent in his voice. He watches Seungkwan’s expression closely.

“But you were stabbed—” Seungkwan covers his mouth with his hands. “Oh, I mean—

“So it wasn’t a dream.” He gasped. “How did you do it? How am I still alive?” There are so many questions running in Vernon’s mind. He doesn’t remember anything about his perpetrator. The only thing he remembers is that he’s about to go back to his cottage before having a sharp knife thrust into him. Seungkwan has asked him how come he isn’t fazed by everything that happened. Why would he? He’s life has always been so bland and boring. This turns of events will enliven his dull life. As a young boy he has always loved reading and watching anything about heroes saving the world with their magnificent power. He always wanted an adventure. Maybe one that is less life threatening, though.

Facing the mirror, Seungkwan brushed his teeth with the electrical toothbrush that Mingyu bought him last week, the switch still turned off. He has no knowledge on how to use it. He suddenly heard a loud crash on the other side of the bathroom door. He hastily finishes drying himself, wore fresh clothes and went to the source of the sound.

“Oh, my.” It was her mom’s favorite antic vase which was painstakingly painted by his ancient godfathers.

“Sorry, I was a little dizzy.” Vernon smiles apologetically at him.

“No, it’s okay. I can fix this.” The dark-haired boy watched in delight as Seungkwan casts arcane words at the crime scene, the broken pieces of the vase forming back together. The vase with ornamental designs was restored to its original shape without a cleft.

“Amazing!” says Vernon with glint on his eyes like a kid watching a magic show.

 

 

The following day, Seungkwan accompanies Vernon to his house. The former has learned that it’s only a fifteen minute walk away from his home, and that he’s here in the island for a vacation just like what Mingyu have initially thought. His parents are in the city busy making money. Vernon seems melancholic talking about his parents. Seungkwan thinks of a way to remove the sad face ruining Vernon’s otherwise good-looking face.

“Let’s fly.”

“Huh?” Seungkwan grabs Vernon’s hand and sprints toward the open streets, the latter picks up the pace and runs beside him. Swinging his left hand over his head he stops every electronic device’s operation once again, unaware of other’s people inconvenience. With a snap of his fingers, a shimmer of light envelops them making them invisible to others excluding themselves. They sprint towards the shore. Vernon’s heart beats faster and faster. He has never felt this alive before. The breeze of the ocean hits their noses. Seungkwan closes his eyes, indulging the coolness of the wind.

The summer sky is beautiful and the sun is shining brightly at them. Seungkwan leaps into the sky, his hold on the other’s hand firm. Vernon stumbles a little and flails his right hand. Seungkwan looks back at Vernon with a blinding smile, grasping the latter’s other hand so he can regain his balance. With their hands intertwined, Vernon can’t help but smile back.

“Seungkwan, thank you!” he shouted, genuinely grateful for everything. He saved his life, took him inside his house and tended to him while he was asleep. He’s nothing but a stranger to Seungkwan. It’s the first time for him to encounter someone as pure-hearted as him.

“Shh.” He puts his finger on his lips. “Don’t open your mouth too much; you might catch a fly or something.” 

“Okay.” Seungkwan opens his mouth to say something when he suddenly chokes and coughed a fit.

“You okay?” They laughed in chorus. He was the one who warned Vernon but ended up being the one experiencing it. Seungkwan soared higher pulling the dark-haired boy along, trying to hide his embarrassment. The blond boy’s effort was futile; Vernon could clearly see Seungkwan blush up to his ears from behind him. Their laughter mixes with the sound of ocean waves and the seagull’s mews, its harmony fading into the vast cerulean sky.

 

 

Unbeknownst to them, there is a lurking shadow creeping upon them, watching with ill intent.

 

 

 

 


	3. Previously Lost Light

It’s a cloudy morning and the open sky is decorated by the flying kites led by the kids running cheerfully on the streets. Cicada chorus can be heard from the trees, its branches and leaves dancing along the calm summer breeze. A pink haired boy delves into the busy streets of the marketplace accompanied by his two familiars shuffling sluggishly behind him. The end of his black cloak touches the rough pavement as he walks. The people who pass by casts curious glances at them.

“It’s so hot… and I’m sweating buckets.” Dokyeom whines and adjusts the metal collar with a wing pendant attached to it on his neck. He blows air at his body, strong wind passes through the insides of his clothes which sway along the moving air, momentarily cooling his sweaty body.

“Ugh. It’s so heavy…” Hoshi jumps, adjusting the strap of the heavy bag on his shoulders. “It’s heavy ‘ya know?” He complained. His blue bangs are sticking to his forehead due to sweat. The collar with a star pendant on his neck is starting to itch.

“Shut up!” Woozi snaps at his noisy familiars effectively zipping their mouths shut. “Ahjussi, do you have ginseng?” The small guy asked the middle-aged vendor with a polite smile his angry veins still apparent on his face.

“Catch.” Woozi says as he passes a bottle of ginseng to each of them. They barely caught the bottle; they both have their hands full with the items their master just bought. “I’m done shopping, let’s get going.” He flips his cloak and heads to the exit.

On their way to the forest behind a school where they will build a camp, a mandarin orange rolls off the paper bag that Hoshi is carrying. “Ack!” The blue haired boy tries to follow it with his outstretched hand, his other arm occupied  hugging three paper bags tightly. He inadvertently kicks it away, he watched as the orange rolls down the road opposite to where they were headed. The rolling orange halts at someone’s foot, the owner of the foot picks it up and hands it to the panting familiar.

“Thank you, thank you!” He bows down twice in gratefulness at the tall boy and bows one more time as he bid goodbye to the tall boy and the other taller boy carrying plastic bags beside him.

 

 

“Where were you?” Dokyeom asked, engrossed organizing their camp. Woozi is sitting on a tree stump on the side, immersed skimming his spell book. The leaves of the book turn on its own accord, the pages flipping every second. They’re travelers on an expedition to learn and find hidden secrets and treasures of the world. This island is their second stop. Up to this date they have no luck in finding what they have been looking for.

“I was retrieving the orange and then… guess what?” Hoshi tries to build anticipation as he unmounts the things he was carrying on the mat set on the open space of the woods.

“What?”

“I met a dragon familiar. Oh gosh, oh gosh. I never met a dragon familiar.” He jogs on his place in excitement. “He seems so strong and noble,” he added, beaming with admiration. “His master seems weak though.” He muses while he arranges the ingredients for lunch. “But he’s kind enough to help me pick the orange so yeah.”

“How’d you know he’s a dragon familiar?” Dokyeom asks without looking back, busy setting the ridge tent on his own.

“Oh,” he waves his hand dismissively. “I always had a good eye. He was oozing with fiery aura. Fiery aura equals dragon.” He explained flamboyantly.

“Makes no sense to me.” His partner shrugs.

Woozi, who’s been eavesdropping on his familiars’ conversation, places his spell book on the ground with a thud and makes a beeline to his blue headed familiar and grabs him by his shoulders.

“Where is he?”

 

 

After eating the lunch Hoshi scrumptiously prepared, the three of them tracked down the dragon familiar with Woozi’s magic.

“Do you guys see anything?” Woozi asks; he can’t see anything from where he stood. His familiars are peeking over the wall adjacent to the apartment building they were spying on. “Hmm, I think they’re preparing a meal.” Dokyeom observed.

“Should we let them eat first?” Hoshi asked after they dropped on the floor.

“Why should we? Let’s stick to the plan.” He pushes Hoshi towards the apartment. Suddenly, the dog in the neighboring house barks aggressively at them, his two familiar jumps in fear and climbs on his small build. Their limbs are all over him hugging him tightly, leaving their master momentarily stunned. Woozi’s eyebrow twitches; signaling an upcoming storm.

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

The walk to Wonwoo’s apartment from the marketplace was silent, it wasn’t awkward but it wasn’t comfortable either. The enchanter usually initiates conversations but he’s strangely quiet this time. The slightly smaller boy had forcefully taken him to the market to buy ingredients and to his home to teach him cook. Cooking is one of Mingyu’s fortes. He has always cooked for Seungkwan and his family.

The tall boy heaves a sigh as he places the groceries on the table. “Okay, let’s cook.”

 

 

Mingyu is mixing the ingredients he washed and neatly cut in the boiling pot. Wonwoo is setting the plates on the table. The taller guy thinks they look like a married couple preparing a meal. He immediately erases his thought when the boy walks toward him.

“I’ll help you.” Wonwoo peeks over Mingyu’s shoulder while rolling up his sleeves, ready to cook.

“I don’t need it. Just watch and learn, sit right there like a good boy.” He points at the table using the ladle.

“What? I’m the best cook in my family!”

“Right,” He tastes the stew he was cooking. “Best manipulator, more like.” He mumbles.

“I heard that!” He swats Mingyu’s hand and tries to take the ladle from him, trying to take over the kitchen staff.  The taller boy puts it away out of the enchanter’s reach. The electric stove abruptly turns off with a click. “Huh, did the power go off again?” Wonwoo questions as he tries to open the stove again.

“Seungkwan, I swear to God.” Mingyu groans in exasperation and drops the ladle inside the pot with a splatter, the pot starting to boil down.

 

 

Intense heat comes from Mingyu’s palm, making the contents of the pot start to boil.  “I’m only doing this today, okay?” He said, irritation shown on his face. The enchanter has suggested using his powers to resume cooking the hot pot.

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up, I’m starving.” Wonwoo watches from behind as the taller boy finishes cooking their lunch. There’s a knock on the door. The enchanter hangs his clean apron on the hook of the kitchen cabinet and went to see who the visitor is. Hoping it’s a customer, he prepares his business smile. “Welcome!”

“Hello.” Hoshi waves his hand on the clueless boy. The lump on his head inflicted by his master—because of his tough love—stings a lot but he tries ignores it with a smile.

“Oh, it’s the guy from earlier. How did—”

“Yes,” Hoshi splashes sleeping powder on his face. Wonwoo immediately fell asleep, he caught him by his back and carried him piggyback. While hastily running towards where his master is, he hears someone shouts: “Hey! Where are you taking him?!” Hoshi looks back at the dragon familiar, who’s wearing an apron, run towards them.

“DK-DK takeover,” Dokyeom runs to them in aid. The brown haired familiar waves his hand like he’s throwing an invisible football on the air. Vicious gusts of air blows to the direction of Mingyu. Dust and dried leaves scatters on the air. Mingyu’s wings materialize as he sprang up, completely missing the attack. He follows the blue haired boy to the other side of the street. Hoshi hides behind his master’s back and places their hostage on the road.

“If you want your master to be safe, you have to be my familiar.” Woozi threatens, his hood covering half of his face.

“Yeah, you havta be his familiar.” Hoshi seconds, earning a glare from his master.

“Who are you people?” Silence. “He’s not my master and I’m not going to be your familiar.”

“I see. If you’re not gonna be mine then you’re better off dead.” He removes his hood and prepares for battle.

“Feisty, are we?” Mingyu simultaneously blast balls of fire to Dokyeom behind and in front of Woozi with his outstretched hands, they jump away to dodge it. Mingyu leaps to where the sleeping enchanter is. Using the smoke from the attack as an advantage he carries him and escapes.

“Drat! He flew away.” he spanked his blue haired familiar. “You idiot, why did you leave our hostage’s side?”

“Sorry, I’m scared of fire.” He bows his head.

“You should be more scared of me!” He flicks his forehead. “Aw.” Hoshi blinks in pain. “Anyway, let’s follow them, quick.” He grabbed Hoshi’s hand and flew with him. Dokyeom follows after them, whirling wind under his soles.

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

They rest on the porch of Vernon’s seaside cottage, the adrenaline from flying still lightly pumping their hearts. Vernon offered Seungkwan if he wants some drinks, the latter asked for a lemonade. The dark haired boy went inside to make the drinks and decided to take out snacks on his way out. When he gets back outside, the blond boy is resting his head on the table, using his folded elbow as a pillow. “That was fun.” He says. Seungkwan sits properly, nods and smiles. “Yeah but I think we should use some sun screen next time.” Seungkwan thanks him for the snacks and drinks the lemonade in one go. Vernon smiles at the thought that there will be another time of this.

The sun is almost disappearing on the horizon; the sound of waves gushing on the shore is relaxing. The ocean lulls them to sleep as they lay on the outdoor chair next to each other. One, exhausted from using his energy, the other, worn out from flying for the first time.

 

 

Vernon woke up to someone shaking his body.

“Vernon, I got to go. I just received a text from Mingyu, someone is following them.” The younger boy rubs his eyes and blinks away his drowsiness, his eyes opens to Seungkwan’s worried face. He looks at the clock; it reads 7:00 PM.

“Can I go with you?”

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

Seungkwan, where are you? Mingyu flies towards the Boo manor, the street lights they pass by opens like magic, like they are the source of its power. Seungkwan’s spell finally breaks off. He thought. The boy on his arms wakes up.

“Where are we—oh my God.” Wonwoo hugs the flying boy tightly, holding on for his dear life. They wobbled a little in the air.

“Calm down.”

“I’m scared of heights!” He shouted to his ears.

“We’re close, just stay still, okay?” Mingyu says, his voice reassuring. His hair pushed back by the wind. “Okay.” Wonwoo replies, his voice is muffled by Mingyu’s shirt.

 

 

They rashly land on the garden, Wonwoo detaches himself from Mingyu.

“W-what happened?” he asked, cold sweat forming on his forehead.

“Lunatics are following us.” Mingyu watches the skies, looking for their pursuers.

“Where are they?”

“They’ll be here soon. We can’t run forever, we have to face them.”

“But I can’t fight!”

“Calm down! I won’t let you them hurt you, okay?” Wonwoo nods at him, his words were somewhat reassuring.

“Would you look at that!” They looked up at the roof of the two-story house where the source of the voice is. Three dark shapes can be seen under the moonlight. The trio jumped down from the roof, Dokyeom weakens the impact of their landing with his powers. Woozi runs towards them with his familiars on each of his side. The pair of familiar leaps and emits a blinding light, taking a form of a steel sword, the symbols of their pendant engraved on the blade. Woozi grabs the handle of the swords mid-air with a smirk. Mingyu steps in front of the enchanter to protect him, blue flames burning on his right hand.

 

 

“Stop!” Seungkwan shouted from above. He’s sitting on a broomstick with Vernon behind him. (The latter requested to use the broomstick. “It looks appropriate.” He reasoned.) No one reacted thus he straightens his legs and descends lower. “Who are they?” Vernon’s grip on his shoulder tightens as he tries to look closer at the commotion below.

“I don’t know but they’re going to attack them. I need to do something.” The blond boy focuses his mind and concentrates his powers on the moving target. A magic circle appears on the ground below Woozi. Alerted, he jumped back but it followed him. The blades on each of his hand glows. His familiar turns back into their human forms, his hands still gripping on his familiars’ ankles. Dokyeom drops on the floor, his back hitting the ground with a loud thud. “Ouch.” Hoshi, with fast reflexes, using his hands to prevent his body from dropping at the solid surface, bending over backwards.

“Jihoon?” Woozi lets go of his hold on his familiars and looks back at the familiar voice he hasn’t heard for ages. “Oh.”

“Hi, Seungkwan… and oh,” He points at his back with his thumb, a silly smile on his face. “Is this your familiar?”

 

 

Wonwoo drops dramatically on the floor. “Wonwoo, are you okay?” Mingyu hurried over him. The enchanter groans and gestured to Mingyu to come closer. “What is it?” he leans his ear closer to him.

“I’m… I’m so hungry.”

 

 

Woozi and his familiars apologized to them with a deep bow. The others accepted their apologies because no one was hurt. (Wonwoo complains about his empty stomach.)

It turns out that Jihoon, who goes by the name Woozi, is one of Seungkwan’s close friends. Their mothers are very close, making them see each other as kids in a lot of parties and occasions like their friendship was predestined even when before they were born.

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

The days of summer went on just like how fast Woozi skims through his spell books. Some days, Vernon visits Seungkwan, the latter tours him around the mansion. They went to the garden outside where flower beds of yellow canola blossoms in the open land and to the grand library that was build underground, the towering bookshelves contains vast knowledge about the history of magic, and various spells. The blond boy sometimes shows him real magic tricks which the younger boy has always enjoyed.

Other days, Seungkwan surprise visits Vernon, flicking the wind chime designed with seashells and translucent plastic dolphin on the balcony of the seaside cottage. It rings, signaling his arrival. It has become a habit later on. They played videogames on the flat screen on the living room and indoor board games on the porch, everything Seungkwan has never played.

One morning, the older boy saw Vernon using a toothbrush the same as the one Mingyu gave him and thought it was possessed because it’s vibrating as he brush his teeth. He then learned from the younger boy how to properly use the so-called electric toothbrush. Vernon endearingly smiles at the boy’s innocence.

Woozi and his familiars: Dokyeom and Hoshi, stays on the mansion for a while, Seungkwan imposed because he wants to catch up with his friend. His familiars help with the household chores while their master is absorbed by the library.

The enchanter sometimes visits them to sell new products that he made: a pair of flying shoes—that Vernon wanted to buy but he thinks he won’t have the time to use it so he relents—and new enchantment potions placed on his belt pouch. There’s a potion that will make your food taste good. “Overcooked or uncooked as long as it’s edible, it works!” Wonwoo smiles and swings the bottle in front of everyone. Mingyu grimaces at him. “Eh, we don’t need that. We have Hoshi.” Woozi interjects, patting his blue headed familiar’s back. Hoshi proudly grins at the businessman.

Mingyu continues his cooking lessons with. The enchanter isn’t going anywhere with their training. He wonders if the other is doing it on purpose; if he wants to spend time with him, all he had to do is say it. One night, Seungkwan jokingly questions his loyalty to him, seeing as he always stays with the enchanter’s side nowadays.

Each day that passes, Vernon hopes his summer break prolongs. Seungkwan wishes the sun stays up longer on the sky.

The week before summer ends, they went to downtown to rent bicycles. Seungkwan picked the blue cruiser bike and Vernon has to use the pink one because it’s the only one left that is right for his size. “It’s cute.” Seungkwan giggles at him and his pink helmet.

Rings of bicycle bell echoes through the grove and euphony of birds singing and chirping comes from the tall trees which shade them from the blinding sunlight. The rays of sunshine enter the gaps between the leaves of the trees, making a beautiful pattern of silhouettes on the ground.

They raced along the wide road beside the shore. “Look Seungkwan, no hands!” The boy with foreign features called out to him, pedaling his bike with his hands on the air, a playful smile on his face. “I can do that too.” Seungkwan crossed his arms and pedals with a smug smile, the handlebars controlled by an invisible force. He smirks at him. “That’s cheating!”

“Look Vernon, no gravity!” He singsongs as he float on the air whilst pedaling the bike. Vernon laughs at his antics. “Me too!” This time Vernon is confident that he won’t get scared, lose his balance and flail around. Seungkwan casts magic at his bike. Vernon starts to levitate; he then pedals hard to catch up to the blond boy. They raced up to the clouds with their worries behind their back.

 

 

The night before the day Vernon goes back to Seoul, they went camping in front of the fancy cottage. They feast on the meal prepared and cooked by their respective chefs, Hoshi and Mingyu. “I washed the salad!” Wonwoo voiced out but he was met with silence.

Everyone played around with sparklers. Dokyeom takes picture of everyone including himself with Vernon’s Polaroid camera, capturing the priceless moments and imprints them on a glassy paper. Hoshi runs around the beach with sparklers in between his fingers on each of his hand, waving his hands like a hyper-energetic kid. A bucket of water is on the side in case of emergency.

Everyone is sitting around the bonfire that Mingyu started with just a snap of his fingers. Wonwoo starts telling ghost stories with his eyes wide, totally into his scary persona. Woozi appears to be interested and a little bit too excited; he inched closer to the enchanter. On contrary, his two familiars are shaking and covering themselves with blankets.

All of a sudden, a memory flashes in Seungkwan’s mind; he has done something like this too before. A group of kids including him surrounds a bonfire, a much larger one. Probably because was still a kid. Everyone seems around his age. It’s unclear but he can hear their laughter but their faces on his memories were all blank.

 

 

“Can’t sleep?” Vernon turns to face Seungkwan. They are all cramped inside the family tent, the other five fast asleep. The two is laying on the center, the tall boys on the left and the trio with diverse personalities from each other is on the right side. An oil lamp is hanged on the frame of the tent above, keeping them warm and lighted. “Yeah.” He smiles sleepily. “Mingyu’s snoring is a little bit…” Vernon removes his blankets and stands up. “C’mon, I’ll show you something.”

 

 

They’re sitting on the edge of the pier, the luminous full moon giving them light. A deep blue light emerges under the sea. It flows towards them and grows wider and wider until it surrounds them.

“Wow… It’s beautiful.” Seungkwan gapes at what he is seeing. It looks like fractal like stars and galaxies surrounding them from below. Vernon looks at his illuminated face and at the firefly squids swimming towards the shore. He gulps as he stares at the sea straight ahead; the moon reflects light on the billows of ocean making them glisten in the dark. “Seungkwan… what are the things that make you scared?”

The older boy looks slightly taken aback by his question. “I don’t know…” He hums in thought. “I think I’m scared of losing my powers… without it I won’t be able protect the people who are dear to me.” He says staring at the glowing water, dim blue light reflected on his eyes.

“That night, I was so scared…” Tears threaten to fall from Vernon’s eyes. Seungkwan moves closer to him and envelops him in his arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay to be scared.” He hushed and gently pats his head. “Here you can have this.” Seungkwan puts his nuumite necklace around Vernon’s neck. He fondly smiles at him and wipes the tears under his eyes with his thumb. “It will always protect you like I’m always near.”

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

The night after Vernon left, Seungkwan’s been pointlessly staring on the white ceiling like Vernon the night he woke up after he was saved by him. He could hear their gates rattle and leaves rustle because of the violent wind brought by the monsoon. He can’t sleep. After grabbing a coat from the closet, he opens the window of his room and flew to the cold night sky. The window closes and locks on its own.

 

 

Seungkwan’s dragon familiar is comfortably sleeping under the white sheets on his room. Mingyu’s resting eyes snaps open. She’s here. He hastily went down from his room in the attic. As he was walking he could hear clicks of heels ascending the staircase.

“Madam, welcome home.” Mingyu kneels down, his fist on the floor, showing deep respect. Seungkwan’s mom is the one who took care of Mingyu and adopted him to the family as a child. He has always thought he’s going to be her familiar.

“Hi, Mingyu. I’m home.” She smiled at the boy and gestured him to stand up. “You don’t have to tend to me; I already imported my luggage to my room.” Seungkwan’s mom is tanner than before, he notices. She was on a vacation in Marbule, an island where everything is made of marble, a tourist spot for magicians and demi humans alike.

“Where is Seungkwan?”

“He’s already asleep. The last time I checked.”

“Well, he’s not in his room. I just checked.” She places her hands on her hips.

 

 

Seungkwan lands elegantly on the white wooden floor. The wind chime soothingly rings like it knows he has come; its melody is relaxing and complements with the sound of the rustling leaves. The repetitive gentle splash of waves on the shore reverberates to him. He looks back at everything that happened since Vernon came to his life. A lot of joyful memories have happened in just a blink of his eye. All of his summers were spent at home studying books of spells in the big underground library, he doze off half of the time though. It’s the first time he had this fun, the first time he felt like summer. At the same time, it felt like a lost piece inside of him—that he wasn’t aware of until Vernon came—was found. He lifts his right hand to grab the pendant of his necklace, a habit of his, only to realize it wasn’t there anymore. He looks up in the starry night sky, knowing the other is under the same beautiful sky, he feels complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> author's note: this is also posted in aff pls do check it :>


	4. Voyage

 

 

It’s a calm dewy morning. The sun is still hiding whilst the moon is riding high in the clear blue sky. It’s one of Seungkwan’s favorite phenomena; he gazed at it from the moving van. Everyone tag along to accompany Vernon to the dock to bid farewell. The ride was silent, either they were still sleepy or they’re glum because of the boy’s departure.

“Are you coming back?” Mingyu asks as he helps Vernon take out the luggage from the van.

“Yeah,” he nods. “As soon as I can.”

“Where’s Wonwoo?”

“Probably still sleeping like a log, he didn’t reply to my text.” Mingyu shrugs, taking out the last bag off the van. “Now say goodbye to Seungkwan,” The tall guy lightly pats his shoulder and pushes him towards Seungkwan.

Woozi is leaning on the van while his familiars are playing among themselves. The pink haired boy saluted at Vernon when the latter waves his hand at them while Dokyeom and Hoshi waves back in all smiles.

The blond boy is blankly staring at the passenger ship, the people are pouring inside the large vessel little by little. “Hey.” Seungkwan didn’t hear him so he smirks and giggles behind his hand; he then playfully slaps his butt. Seungkwan jumps with a yelp. “W-what was that for!” Seungkwan turns to look at the grinning Vernon and he thought the lime green bonnet he was wearing looks good on him. He is good looking in the first place.

“Well, you weren’t paying attention so,” Vernon shrugs.

“You should visit me in Seoul.” He adds.

Seungkwan hums in reply. “I’ll try.” He’s back at it again, staring straight ahead at the ocean.

“Are you gonna miss me?” Vernon teases, successfully getting a reaction out of the slightly smaller boy. Seungkwan suppresses a laugh.

“Of course,” Seungkwan crosses his arms over his chest and looks on the ground, sulking. “Who’s gonna help me beat the boss in Twisted Metal? I don’t think I can finish a game without you.” he pouts. “Well, you’re on your own now Mr. Player Two,” Vernon affectionately pats Seungkwan’s head. Vernon has left him a spare key so Seungkwan can continue playing the games in his console in his cottage but Seungkwan thinks it’s not really that worth playing because it won’t be that fun without Vernon. The ship suddenly horns indicating it’s about to leave. “Well, I gotta go now. Take care of yourself.” Seungkwan thinks he should be the one saying that, he could take care of himself pretty well. Vernon looks at him one last time, the smile etched on his face somehow look sad. The blond boy nods and waves his hand. “ _Bye-bye._ ”

Vernon is waving energetically at them over his head, a smile plastered on his face. The people around him are probably giving him judging looks but he couldn’t care less. Seungkwan mirrors him from the dock.

They stayed to watch the ship fade into the horizon.

Hoshi’s eyes went wide and his mouth formed a big letter o when he sees a dark figure hovering behind Vernon, he repeatedly blinks and rubs his eyes. _It’s gone…?_ He squints hard at the lively boy waving his hand at them from the boat. It was probably just a hallucination, he hasn’t eaten breakfast yet. He feels someone elbow him. It’s Dokyeom. “Let’s go, they’re leaving already.”

 

 

 

 

“Where did you meet Vernon?” Woozi inquires out of nowhere. They’re driving home to Seungkwan’s house. The three familiars are boisterously singing along to ‘Love Battery’ blasting on the stereo. “Seungkwan gave him his first time.” Mingyu wiggles his eyebrows. Dokyeom and Hoshi oohed in unison. Woozi removes his hands on his ears. “Say what?”

“His virginity? I see.” Woozi muses. “Vernon even smacked his butt earlier.” He smirks at Seungkwan.

“I did _not_.” Seungkwan looks at Woozi indignantly. “Mingyu stop saying things that will make people misunderstand!” He hits Mingyu leg, a blush spreading on his whole body from embarrassment. “Hey! I’m driving!” Mingyu complains but Seungkwan only hits him again. “Okay, okay. He gave Vernon his life energy. _That_ is his first time.” Mingyu explained.

“Seriously?” Woozi gasps. “And you don’t even know him before?”

“I know right,” Mingyu replies from the driver’s seat.

“Well, Mr. Vernon’s quite handsome.” Hoshi commented. “I mean, I’m more—” Dokyeom hits him on the face with a neck pillow lying on the seat of the van before he could finish his sentence. _I didn’t save him because of that._

“You should be careful of giving your life energy to others. It’s essential, think of yourself, too.” Woozi thoughtfully advised. _I know that._

“I just felt like I had to, okay?” Seungkwan tells them the whole story of what occurred the night he met Vernon. The blond boy’s tone is serious, they listened intently. Woozi’s face pales at the mention of blood. “Do you think it’s…?”

“Mingyu thought so too.”

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

“Where are you from?” Seungkwan hears a stern voice as he enters his room through the window. The lampshade opens, illuminating the dark room with a dim yellowish light. The blond boy anxiously places his hand on his chest, his heartbeat picking up its pace. He sees Mingyu, his familiar places his hands on his hips. “Well?” Seungkwan’s been acting weird since Vernon has left, Mingyu noticed. He does understand because they’ve literally spend their summer vacation together. Seungkwan probably didn’t notice but he checks on him when he hangs out on Vernon’s cottage. He seems to have a lot of fun. It’s the first time he had seen him smile and laugh like that for a very long time.

Seungkwan looks up at the ceiling, thinking of an excuse. “Uhh… I was out fishing…?”

“Seungkwan, you can’t fish.” The taller boy deadpans at him. “Anyway your mom is back. She’s already asleep so just greet her tomorrow, okay? Wake up early because she’s gonna cook breakfast for us.” Seungkwan seems to be still processing everything he just said so Mingyu walks to door and gives him a look one final time before closing the door. “G’night.”

 

 

 

“Good morning, mom.” Seungkwan groggily greeted his mom who is busy preparing their breakfast.

“Good morning, _sweety_. Had a good night’s sleep?” She fondly asked as she stirs the contents of the frying pan. Seungwan breathes in the smell of her mom’s cooking, nostalgia of lazy Saturday mornings filling him.

“Yeah,” Seungkwan hugs her. “Welcome back. How was Marbule?”

 

 

 

The dining table is unusually packed with the three new additions on the table. The guests had greeted Seungkwan’s mother with deep respect just like Mingyu did before. Mrs. Boo is more than happy to cook for all of them.

“By the way, there’s an upcoming ball in Seoul and we’re all invited. Remember Mr. Hong?” She looks at Seungkwan. “He used to bring gifts for you when he visits. He will be hosting this party exclusively for _us_ , magic wielders.”

“Oh yeah, that old guy.” Seungkwan nods absentmindedly while playing with his food, not really recognizing the name that her mom mentioned. “There would be young single boys, too.” She says to Seungkwan in a hushed voice. “ _Mom!_ ”

“What about you, _Jihoonie_? Your mom would be there too, I think.” For a moment, Dokyeom could swear he saw his master’s brow twitch at the pet name. “I’ll think about it.” Woozi smiles weakly at her, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. Seungkwan hears Hoshi beside him mutters _I wanna go_ to Woozi, Dokyeom says _me too_. _Then go by yourself!_ The pink haired boy angrily shushed at them. Seungkwan’s mom looks at them curiously. Woozi smiled the corner of his eyes crinkling and resumes eating.

“I almost forgot, Seungkwan, honey, where were you last night?”

Again, Seungkwan looks at the ceiling, thinking for another excuse. “Um, I was fishing.” He says foolishly. Realizing he said the same thing to Mingyu, he slumps on his seat. He wants to slide underneath the table and hide.

“Seungkwan you can’t fish.” Her mother pursed her lips.

Mingyu facepalms.

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

“Jihoon-ah!” Seungkwan calls out from the door; he descends on the stairs and walk into the garden. He marched towards his friend, he was a little distracted at Dokyeom and Hoshi who are immersed in a fierce combat practice meanwhile their master is watching them closely.  He sits next to him on the shaded patch of bermuda grass underneath the maple tree. “Why aren’t you coming to the party?”

Woozi puffed his cheeks and blew air out.

“Mom’s gonna be there.”

“And so?” Seungkwan raises his eyebrow.

“Look, mom is against _this_.” He gestured toward himself and his familiars. “We just… you know, escaped.” He chuckles. There’s a sad tone behind his chuckle, Seungkwan notices. “She’s very obsessed with me. She wants me to stay at home 24/7. I don’t want that. I don’t want to just stay at home and sit prettily all day.” Seungkwan initially was offended because he’s the kind of person who would happily stay indoors but he does understand what Jihoon is trying to say, his friend loves adventures and trying out new things, _like Vernon._ He abruptly coughs, pushing away his thoughts.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll tell mom.” Seungkwan stands up and pats his bottom to remove the dirt that latched to his pants. “I mean, don’t worry I won’t tell her—”

“Yeah, I get it.” Woozi smiles at him, his dimple showing. “Now go, we’re busy here.” He shoos his friend away.

 

 

 

The afternoon came. The blond boy is looking for clothes to wear for the ball in his closet when something caught his eye. It’s Vernon’s wallet. _I forgot to give it back._ He takes out Vernon’s ID to check it out. He slides his finger across the name on the card. _Choi Vernon Hansol._ He grins at boy’s picture. _His hair is a lot shorter here._ Something falls out from the wallet. He picks it up.

_It’s my ID!_ “How…?”

“Seungkwan, your mom says we’re going to the tailoring shop to have our bodies measured.” Mingyu says peeking from the door. “We’re going to wear customized tuxedos!” Mingyu announced excitedly as he enter the room, his eyes twinkling.

The taller boy looks at the ID Seungkwan was holding. “You finally found your ID. I told you, don’t fly from school to home because you always drop your things and you don’t even notice!” Mingyu lectures. “I said I’ll pick you up.”

“You take forever to come and it’s more convenient to fly.” Seungkwan waves his hand dismissively, his eyes darting back to Vernon’s ID picture.

 

 

 

The next week came slower than Seungkwan had wanted it to be. He spent the week joining Woozi with his treasure hunting escapades. Who would have thought they would actually find a map buried underground behind Seungkwan’s school? It’s not a treasure, but it’s a lead to something. It might be a treasure map a kid with an 8th grade syndrome had made but the joy in Woozi’s team made him shut his mouth. Mingyu seems ecstatic too because he jumps with them like a five years old kid.

The day before the formal dance party, they used a magic door fused to a small—in comparison to their manor—house in Seoul. Her mom is the only person who can activate it. She has a lot of spell on her sleeves, more than you can imagine. Mrs. Boo entered first, the doorframe glows a color of scarlet. Seungkwan follows suit with Mingyu shuffling right behind him. It feels weird passing through the door, it’s like entering a new world. The air was different and somehow the atmosphere feels heavier. Seungkwan hasn’t gone to Seoul for a long time. He doesn’t even remember the last time he visited. Now that he thought about it, he doesn’t remember a lot of things from back then.

 

 

 

“Seungkwan, I’m going to shop with Mingyu, are you gonna come with?” Her mom asked. She’s wearing a new set of clothes, ready to go out.

“No, I’ll stay here.” He gave her mother a lopsided smile and goes back to reading his spell book, its exterior an economic book cover as a disguise.

“O-kay?” She stops to look at Seungkwan for a while. “Well, we’ll be right back.”

Mingyu winks at him as they left. The tall boy had told him that he will distract her mom so he could buy him time so that he can go and find Vernon. “Wait, why are we keeping Vernon a secret?” he had asked. “Your mom will start to ask questions and you’re bad at lying!” With that reason he can’t deny thus he relents.

He let a minute pass then he went outside. The idea of seeing Vernon again somehow makes him fill with joy, excitement and something more that he can’t quite put his finger on.

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

The whole week after Vernon went back to Seoul was such a drag. He went home for a while to meet his family. After two days he went to dormitory. Today, he is occupied doing an essay given by their English teacher when his roommate enters the room.

“You’re only doing that now?” Joshua asks him incredulously, hanging his sling bag on the chair on his own desk.

“You already did it?” Vernon asked from the other side of the room.

“Yeah,” His roommate’s known for doing his homework and school projects days prior before the deadline. _Such a goody two-shoes._ Vernon’s the opposite, he like procrastinating. He works better under pressure, he reasons.

Joshua peeks at Vernon’s homework. Vernon looks at him and studies his friend’s face. “What’s with the eyebags?”

“I have a new part-time job,” He sighs and walks backwards to his bed. He dives to it, his body bouncing on the foam mattress. “It’s really exhausting because I have to tend to two grown man and their house is _so_ big, it takes years to clean it. They should hire more people to be honest.” Joshua huffs to his pillow and turns to face Vernon.

“But the pay is _oh yas_ ,” Vernon grimaced at the choice of words.

“I might quit my other part-time jobs and focus on that one.”

“Sounds suspicious. Are you sure you’re not working for a mafia or something _not_ legal?” Vernon pressed, worried for his friend’s well-being. He had asked him before why does he take a lot of part-time jobs when he’s from a rich family. “ _I want to experience striving for myself_ ,” was Joshua’s answer. “ _I can’t be a spoiled brat forever_.” Vernon thinks there’s more into it but he probe no more.

“I’m not sure. I don’t care.” Joshua sits up. “Anyway, one of my bosses is such a beautiful man. I even thought he was a girl at first! His hair is neck length and he has this aura around him.” He explains with exaggerated hand gestures. “His eyes were very cold though.”

Vernon doesn’t know what to say to that thus he goes back to jotting down his essay. He’s planning to finish it today because the classes will start real soon. His phone suddenly buzzed.

_I’m here._

 

 

 

“Excuse me, miss?” Seungkwan politely bows at the girl sitting on the bench of the park. “Is Seoul Foreign School around here?”

“I have a boyfriend.” She looks at him and rolls her eyes.

“Pardon?” Seungkwan mutters, completely dumbfounded.

The girl abruptly stands up, flips his hair and walks away, her heels pounding on the pavement.

“Um, okay. _Bye_.” Seungkwan waves his hand at her. He then sees a boy with a sling bag walk to his direction, he seems tired. He feels sorry for disturbing the stranger but he needs to know if he’s in the right place.

“Yeah, it’s near here.” The boy answered with a nod. Seungkwan thanks him with a bow.

He sits on the bench and texted Vernon.

 

 

 

_What do you mean, you’re here?_ Vernon had texted back. They’ve exchanged texts on what they’ve been doing this whole week. Seungkwan told him Wonwoo caught a cold because he’s very sensitive, he shouldn’t have sleep on the tent. He also told him he went treasure hunting with Woozi. Vernon’s a little jealous; they should’ve done that while he’s still there. His phone vibrates, he unknowingly smiles.

_I’m here at the park near your school._

“Eh, why are you smiling like a creep? That your girlfriend?” Joshua teases his corner of his lips quirked up.

“Shut your mouth.” Vernon tries to straighten up his face but the smile keeps coming back. He stands up, leaving the essay he was planning to finish. _Not today, I guess._ “I’m going out for a bit.” He said as he wears a black sweater over his white shirt.

“Alright, bring home some food.” Joshua puts on his sleeping eyes mask and comfortably goes to sleep. “Goodnight.”

 

The sun is pleasantly warm on the skin. Without even realizing he had run towards the park even if it’s just minute away from the dormitory building. Sweat is making his white shirt stick on his back. Vernon lowers his pace and breathes through his nose. He sees him right away. Seungkwan stands out with his smooth blond hair. Vernon bites his lower lip. Seungkwan looks cute looking lost sitting on the bench.

“It’s only been a week and you’re already so eager to meet me.” Seungkwan looks at him. His mouth curved into a smile.

“I should be the one saying that.” His smile turns into a cheeky smirk. “You’re sweating. Did you run to here?”

Vernon’s a little taken aback. “A dog chased me.” _Really, Vernon._

“Sure.” Seungkwan stifles a laugh and stands up. “It’s nice to finally see you again.”

“Yeah,” _I missed you. Wait, what?_ “Did you miss me too much? Why’re you here?” Vernon chuckles nervously. _Am I losing my mind?_ He internally asks himself.

“Not really? I was around and I thought you’d need this for school.” Seungkwan takes out something from his pocket. It was Vernon’s wallet, he opens it, showing him his school ID.

“I completely forgot about that!” Seungkwan passes it to him. “Thanks.”

“Mingyu took it and I forget to return to you.”

They delved inside the park; the people milling about are getting thinner and thinner until they reach the playground, it’s still a little early hence the place was deserted. Seungkwan sits on the swing; Vernon sits on the swing beside him.

“Why do you have _my_ ID?” Seungkwan starts swinging the seat back and forth. The metal chains creak on a rhythm.

“Oh yeah, that, I picked it up somewhere the day before we met,” he rubs his chin with his index finger and thumb. “So that’s why your name sounds familiar. You’re face, too.” _I thought you looked beautiful_. Vernon gulps, where is this all inner monologue coming from?

“ _Meow._ ” They both looked at each other.

“Did you say something?” Vernon cocked his eyebrows.

Seungkwan stops his swinging with his feet; his rubber shoes rubbing against the sandy ground. “Vernon, I’m not a cat.”

“ _Meooow_.” They looked up on the tree where the source of the sound is. It’s cat stuck on a tree branch, it mewls at them like it’s asking for help.

“Is there anyone around?” Seungkwan asks, looking at the poor cat. Vernon looks around the playground, straightens his posture and salutes. “No sightings in the perimeter, sir.”

Both laughed stupidly at each other.

The blond leaps to the air to help the black cat. It backs away a little but Seungkwan caught it and placed the feline on his arms.

“There you go.” Seungkwan gently puts down the raven-haired cat on the ground, it hastily runs away from them but it momentarily stops to look at him and meows as if it’s giving him its gratitude before it went on its way.

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

Everyone can’t help but look at his direction as he enters the park. _Yes, bask in my presence y’all low life dweebs._ His curly caramel locks bounce along his chirpy strides. With his lively doe eyes, he greets and nods at everyone he encounters. All of them can’t help but be enchanted and smile back (or at least that’s what the Chinese boy sees).

“Hello guys, it’s me The8.” Minghao greeted the camera he’s holding with accented Korean. He smiles at himself because he knows his Korean sounds cute, it’s one of the reasons why he got famous online right away, the other reasons being his outward charming personality, charming foreign looks and his stylish clothes. He combs through his hair with his fingers.

The fresh atmosphere of the park can be seen on the camera as his background. “And I’m here today in the park…” his monologue was cut as he gapes at the boy jumping down from a tall tree with a black cat on his arm on his camera screen.

“What the actual fuck.” He curses in Chinese.

 

 


	5. Overcoming One’s Grief

 

 

 

It’s the first time he’s tolerating a cold. Just one drink of his potion can make any common illnesses go away but no, he wants this. For the first time he wants to feel the pain of being sick. He is sweating all over his body. _I should at least change my clothes._ He slowly opens his eyes, a tall figure enters his blurry line of sight.

“Gosh, I thought you were a burglar or something. I was thinking of throwing the lampshade at you.” Wonwoo said hoarsely and weakly sits up. He then shakes his head disapprovingly at Mingyu. “How did you come in?”

“Through the window,” Mingyu gives him a silly smile.

“I’ve brought you some meds,” he places a plastic bag on the enchanter’s messy desk which the dragon familiar will probably arrange later. _I’m sick_. With that single text Mingyu came in just a minute. Wonwoo feels quite sorry for Seungkwan because the tall boy isn’t even _his_ familiar but he’s always here and today he’s even taking care of him. Slightly cold palm faintly presses against his burning forehead. He closes his eyes to the touch and leaned back to the hard wooden headboard. Wonwoo stares outside the window, the sky was murky and a thin drizzle was falling. This reminds him that he has to buy a new umbrella because he lost his previous one somewhere. “Where’s Seungkwan?”

“Don’t worry about him,” Mingyu retreats his hand and leans back. Wonwoo feels quite empty without the former’s touch. “I’m going to cook porridge, stay there.”

“Yes, please.” He said under his breathe. Mingyu left the room with silent footsteps. After a while, Wonwoo tries to stand up with the plan of changing his clothes, his legs wobbled a little then he flops back to bed. Deciding his legs are too weak to get up he closes his eyes to rest but his mind has other plans and started drifting to the very first day he met Mingyu.

 

 

“Well, hello there. Welcome,” Wonwoo brightly greeted the slightly taller stranger that rang his doorbell. The boy in front of him mutters something he can’t comprehend and he can even barely look at him straight in the eye.

“Huh? What did you say?” The sixteen year old enchanter comes closer and places his hand around his ear. “You need to speak _louder_. I didn’t understand a word you just said.” He says in a mocking manner then he placed his hands on his hips. The funny thing is the taller boy just crossed his arms and pouted, angry fumes coming out from his ears. _How cute._ Wonwoo internally chuckled. Then something clicked on his mind.

“Oh, wait I remember now. Are you Mr. Boo’s familiar? Mingyu, right? I’ll be back in a jiffy,” Wonwoo said before hurriedly disappearing behind the door.

“Here,” Wonwoo places a bottle of tonic on Mingyu’s open palms. “Just a warning though. Don’t open it. It smells pretty bad.” He scrunched up his nose and the taller boy lightly laughs. _Whoa, he laughed…_

“How old are you?” Wonwoo smiled at the boy. Now that he looks at him clearly he realized that he’s actually handsome and his canines make him look adorable like an oversized puppy that is much taller than him.

“Fifteen,” Mingyu said meekly and nibbles on his lower lip. _Ah, he’s younger but he’s a lot taller than me? What sorcery is this?_

“So you can talk,” Wonwoo puts his hand on the top of his Mingyu’s head and ruffled his hair.

“You shouldn’t be shy we’ll meet more often from now on.”

 

 

He used to be just a bashful familiar of a customer. Now he’s a friend, someone he can lean on, and maybe something more if only Wonwoo just admits it to himself. When he regains consciousness, he feels a wet towel on his forehead effectively cooling off his burning body.

“Good morning,” Wonwoo groggily watched Mingyu place a familiar wooden tray on his lap with a blank face, steam coming from the newly cooked rice soup. Wonwoo bites his lower lip. _Oops._

“I can’t believe you. Did you steal this?” Mingyu judges him accusingly. “This is from Starbucks.” He clicks his tongue.

“No!” Wonwoo throws up an ‘x’ symbol with his arms. “ _No_ , wait, I can explain,” he shakes his head but stops right away when it starts throbbing. “I used to work there,” Wonwoo shuts his eyes remembering his _chaotic_ days at the cafe and grins. “And I… I _accidentally_ took it home.”

“Oh really?” Mingyu said nonchalantly, totally not buying the other’s absurd reasoning.

They should just move on with the tray thingy because Wonwoo doesn’t have much to explain. He was planning to give it back but they fired him before he could. He was a sucky barista, he hardly remembers the difference the between cappuccino and espresso but that’s another story. 

“It’s too hot. Blow it.” Mingyu gives him a face but does Wonwoo’s request anyway. He blows air to the spoonful of porridge the other shoved in front of his face. He watched as Wonwoo put the spoon he just blew in his mouth.

“It tastes _meh_.” Wonwoo puts out his tongue, his nose scrunched up.

“Duh, you’re sick after all,” The sick boy takes a few more sips from the rice soup.

“We’re going to Seoul to attend a ball.”

“Oh, sounds fun.” Wonwoo muses.

Mingyu leans back on his chair beside Wonwoo’s bed. “Why are you enduring your cold? Don’t you have a potion for sicknesses like this?”

“I don’t want to use any of them,” he puts the unfinished bowl of porridge on the table. “Thank you for the food.”

“Why?” His brows drew together.

“I want to experience being sick. I have never, like _never_ , been sick.”

“Are you nuts?” Mingyu asked incredulously, he takes the bowl and was about to stand to go back to the kitchen when Wonwoo turns on his bed to face the wall and mutter something.

“ _Only nuts for you_.”

“What? Did you something?” Mingyu turned around, observing Wonwoo’s turned back.

“Nothing, I said I want to sleep. You should go.” He really doesn’t want him to, he wishes he won’t.

“No, I’ll stay.”

When Mingyu went to kitchen to keep away the halfway finished porridge; Wonwoo smiles to his pillow, his body burning much hotter than before which he didn’t know was even possible.

 

 

 

◆◆◆◆◆◆

 

 

 

Woozi whistles when he finally saw the spell he was looking for. _Now we’re all set._ He heaves a sigh as he shut his spell book that now looks a little ragged as a result of much use.

“…Dokyeomie, can you please blow me…”

Woozi’s ears perked up.

_What._

It sounded like a statement rather than a request.

He turned his head around to check if his familiars are doing some inappropriate things. Woozi’s pretty sure he heard that right.

Or did he?

“It’s too hot.” Hoshi fans himself. “We should continue this later.” He squats on the ground and wipes the dripping sweat off his forehead, his breathing heavy due to exhaustion of practicing hand-to-hand combat.

“If you say so, I’m tired too.” Dokyeom sits with his legs crossed on the grass in front of him, he then sucks in air and blows strong wind at his pair. Hoshi smiles and indulged the cold wind passing through his whole body.

With his hand hovered over his chest, Woozi sighed in relief.

 

 

 

 

“Are you okay now? The big guy told me to check on you.”

“Never been better,” Wonwoo said as they enter his apartment. It’s been two days since Seungkwan and Mingyu left to Seoul. Fortunately, Wonwoo recovers immediately. He sneers as he sat on the sofa in front of the TV that is on the cooking channel. “To be honest, I’m fine as long as you’re not swinging your swords at me.”

“Whatever.” The pink headed guy rolls his eyes with his arms crossed.

“Wait. I heard you’re treasure hunting.”

“Let me guess. You’re coming too?” Everyone seems doing that lately, Woozi noticed. Not that he minds, he just hopes he doesn’t have to babysit the enchanter because he knows that he’s not much of a fighter.

“Actually, yes.” Wonwoo stands up and takes a sling bag on the top of his drawers and starts packing things he deems necessary to bring.

“Can you even protect yourself?” Woozi curiously questions him, taking a piece of fish cracker from the bowl on the center table. He munches on it like a hamster.

“Wait, are we fighting?” The rustling sounds stops.

“Not really, but we should ready if something ensues.”

Wonwoo slides back the drawer with a thud.

 

 

 

 

With a flick of his slender fingers the blue ocean parted, revealing the seabed of pearl white sand and various organisms.

“There,” he points at an opening at the end of the partition of the water where an entrance to a cave stood. He starts walking ahead of the others. Wonwoo closes the umbrella he’s holding, garnering Woozi’s attention. “Why did you even bring an umbrella? We won’t need that.” Wonwoo lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.

“We should eat sashimi later,” Dokyeom voiced out, eyeing the various school of fishes on the water, as they walk into trail, the walls of water around them giving off cool and refreshing feeling. A crab scrambles away from the entrance of the cavern as they came closer to it.

Hoshi takes out a coin out of his pocket. It floats on his palms and start to spin until it glows like light bulb, strong enough to lighten the dark cavern.

A sound of water dripping from the stalactite reverberates within the closed walls. They’ve been walking the rocky path inside the cave for minutes. Woozi rolls the supposedly treasure map and puts it inside his bag. He doesn’t have any idea what they will find and what will happen but he hopes it’s at least something useful.

 

 

 

A white sword is buried in half on the ground. Streams of light coming from the hole on the upper interior surface of the cave making the pristine sword glisten.

“It’s the Sword of Clarity.” Woozi gasps. The others watched in awe. A ball of nuumite is engraved on the blade of the sword contrasting its pure blade.

“How convenient…”

“What? Why?” Dokyeom asks from behind.

“I think someone’s playing game with us. Nuummite is Boo’s family stone. This sword is used for slaying demons back in the days. If my memory serves me right this is the one used to kill the first Thanatos.” Woozi flips his cloak and nears to the sword to pull it from the ground.

Wonwoo is not really following their conversation, he stares unwarily on the ground. Suddenly, he feels a drop of water drip on the top of his head. He pats his hair to dry it but it turns out that the liquid that dropped on his hair wasn’t water but some kind of slimy stuff.

“ _Yuck_ , what is this?” He wiggles his hand on the air in disgust.

The others turn around to face Wonwoo.

“Behind you…” Hoshi points something behind him, his other hand covering his gaping mouth. Wonwoo turns around and shrieks. Terror overtook his handsome face.

There stood in front of him is a monstrous purplish flower which is at least a foot taller than him, saliva dripping from its big stinky mouth. Yikes.

In impulse, the frightened enchanter swiftly swings the blue umbrella on the monster’s face but it only snatched it away from his hands and chomped on it.

“Hey!” Wonwoo comes near the towering abomination and hits its body with his closed fists.

“Give!” Hit.

“It!” Hit.

“ _Back_!” Another hit.

“Idiot! What do you think you’re doing?!” Woozi shouted and drops the Sword of Clarity. He starts summoning fireballs on his hand. He’s a little slow when it comes to doing offensive magical spells so he concentrated like his life depended on it. No one should be harmed. Not on his watch.

The monstrous flower looked down at the boy hitting him with menacing red eyes. Annoyed, it whipped its thorny vines at him sending Wonwoo flying across to other side of the wide room-like part of the cave; his back hits the stony walls with much impact. He then limply falls down on the ground.  

“ _Wonwoo_!” He hears someone yell but he can’t tell who it was.

Hoshi hurriedly jumps to the air. Dokyeom releases powerful winds from his hand from behind, making the former him lift higher. Hoshi then delivers a flying kick on the top of the now angry monster, knocking him down the ground. Three consecutives fireball engulfs it right after it hit the ground, turning the vile fiend into ashes.

“ _We can’t run forever._ ” Mingyu’s voice rings inside head. His eyes were shut closed, his body is aching all over.

_I can’t run forever._

Pungent smell of something burning fills the air making him nauseated.

_What am I even doing… it’s just a freaking umbrella for fuck’s sake._

_His_ umbrella.

Mingyu’s face flashes on his mind. His canines and his stupid lisp. His strong arms that carried him into the air. Him wearing his blue apron with teddy bear pattern that Wonwoo actually bought just for him, his worried face when Wonwoo does something stupid and hurts himself. His knitted brows when Wonwoo’s not being honest with himself.

_Mingyu used to be just friend but now he’s someone he can’t live without._

Wonwoo slowly slightly opens his eyes. A continues dropping of water falls on the puddle of water inches away from his right ear. He closes his eyes and silently listened to the rhythm of water. He hopes it is actual water this time.

Muffled voices envelop him then everything went black.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: next chap will be verkwan and junhao it depends heh \o/
> 
> :>
> 
> *screams as I click add chapter*


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